Theodore Metochites: Statesman and Philosopher, 1270-1332

Theodore Metochites (1270-1328) is one of the most important writers, thinkers, and statemen of the Byzantine Empire. Metochites and his rival Nikephoros Choumnos (1250-1327) animated the philosophical and cul-tural debate in Constantinople in the early fourteenth century. Each held the title of mesazon (μεσάζων), a powerful position in the Byzantine gov-ernment, and both men were active just before the controversy concern-ing the ＂divine light＂ and mystic contemplation (Hesychasm) that broke out in 1340. They had become monks before the synods were gathered to decide whether Gregory Palamas was Orthodox or not, resulting in his victory (Synods of Constantinople of 1341, 1347, 1351). Metochites is fa-mous for his artistic patronage of the Monastery of Saint Saviour in Cho-ra (Kariye Camii), where he retired. The monastery’s mosaics and frescoes are among the greatest witnesses to Byzantine aesthetics. Metochites’s writings are significant in the Byzantine era and are presented in this vol-ume by some of the principal specialists of his work.

Frederick Lauritzen is a historian at the Scuola Grande di San Marco, Venezia.